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Matt Farrell
Matthew "Matt" Farrell is a computer hacker that John McClane is assigned to bring into FBI custody. Live Free or Die Hard Passing his algorithm leads to danger Farrell was among the hackers to pass his math-based security algorithm to what he thought were security experts conducting an exercise to see if the Fire Sale could happen, not knowing that they are actually a team of cyber-terrorists. Later, in his apartment, Farrell chats with Warlock online. Then he sees that his system began to malfunction. Just when he was about to press the delete button, which had the pre-planted bomb. But someone knocked on his door. He went to his door and it was John McClane, a New York police dete. McClane convinces him to let him in. As Farrell asked what McClane was doing in his apartment, he tells the hacker the FBI Cyber Security Division wants to question him regarding a computer breach. Farrell realizes that he's probably caught doing his passing of his code to some people. Farrell pretends that he's powering down his network. When McClane wasn't looking at him, Farrell tries to escape to the window that leads to the fire escape, but the window is jammed. Struggling to open it up, a shot rang out from the sniper out by a parking lot. McClane gets Farrell down to the ground as the sniper continued to fire at them. After McClane fired back at the sniper, he and Farrell crawled down to the front door. McClane escorts Farrell to the nearby elevator. Then they see shadows of the hitmen coming up the stairways. After McClane killed one of them by firing his SIG-Sauer P220 pistol at the fire extinguisher he threw at him, Farrell goes back to his apartment as McClane told him to do. When Farrell was trying to deadbolt the door, McClane tells him to get out of there when he was pushing the refrigerator to block the hitmen from going in. Farrell hid in his bedroom behind the wall during the shootout. McClane crawled to the bedroom after killing another assassin. Then Farrell watches as McClane spends his ammo against the third guy. As the hitmen was getting closer, a Terminator action statue, which was hit by McClane's gunfire, accidently hit the delete button on Farrell's keyboard and it detonated the bomb in his computer, which killed the third hitman. Farrell and McClane survived the explosion since they were covered by the wall in his room. Farrell was shocked by what just happened. Then McClane escorted Farrell to the fire escape. As they went down to the alley, McClane tells him to get in his car. As Farrell went to the passenger seat, McClane starts the car and moves the car in reverse to another part of the alley. As McClane tells Farrell to get a extra magazine out of the glove box, an assassin named Del breaks the car window and puts a choke hold on McClane. Farrell tries to get for the machine gun at the back seat, but was wasn't able to reach for it, which prompts McClane to drive the car forward and ram Del off him with a garbage bin. Then the sniper, Rand, jumps down to get them. Farrell went down as McClane drives Rand off the gate and into the wall of the building. Farrell was amazed at McClane's actions. As they drove out of his apartment, Farrell was shaking due to the adrenaline. McClane tells him it will pass. Farrell asked him if he was scared, to which McClane responds that he was scared, despite his calmness. Farrell wondered if he done the kind of stuff before. McClane admits that he did all that stuff a long time ago. Farrell asked who those guys were and why they blew up his apartment. McClane replies that they were there to kill him. The hacker asked McClane why would the hitmen try to kill him and McClane replies that he is the only one who knows since he is the criminal. Farrell looks the cop for a bit as they were heading for the FBI office in Washington DC. Fire Sale As Farrell was asleep in McClane's car in the next morning, Farrell was rudely awakened when McClane turned up the music volume that had a classic rock song. He complained about how classic rock music sucked back then. But McClane turned up the volume even louder, which displeased Farrell. Later, they ran into traffic. McClane was searching on the radio for the news of the shooting on Camden, when Farrell stated the news was completely manipulative and could spread fear to the public. As he complained about it, McClane told him to shut up. Farrell was about to say something when a truck suddenly hit a taxi in front of them, which then hit them on the intersection. McClane asked if he was okay and Farrell said he wasn't alright since he is shaken by what just happened. As McClane found out all the traffic lights are green, he got Farrell out of the car. Farrell asked where they were going, McClane said that they are jogging to the J. Edgar Hoover Building. McClane and Farrell arrived in the Hoover Building that was under quarantined by Hazmet due to the anthrax scare. The duo reached the mobile command center and McClane and Farrell are met by FBI Deputy Director Miguel Bowman. Farrell asked if he could eat something since he didn't ate since yesterday; then he saw the pictures of the dead hackers and recognized that they were his competition when they passed their algorithm to them. McClane asked if he knew the people on the wall and Farrell denied the statement. After the terrorist broadcast messaged through various footages of US Presidents, Farrell realized that the cyber-terrorists were committing on operation called Fire Sale, to which Bowman cut him off to tell him that they didn't know that for sure. Agent Taylor said it was a myth and it couldn't be done. But McClane asked what the Fire Sale was. Farrell then explained to McClane that Fire Sale is a three-step systematic on a national computer infrastructure that shuts down all transportation, financial and utility systems. Bowman showed less interest in his theory, but McClane vouched that he may be right. Bowman got his assistant Molina to have motorcade set up to take Farrell to DHS headquarters. As McClane and Farrell left the mobile headquarters, They were met by FBI Agent Johnson and were taken to the FBI police car. As Johnson tells Agent Laughlin to tell DC Metro to call the route for them to avoid the traffic due to the shutdown of the traffic grid. McClane demands Farrell to tell the truth about the dead hackers. Then Farrell confesses that he and those hackers passed their algorithms, including his math-based security algorithm, to the people who they thought were a software firm that developed a mutating encryption code and wanted to see if they can be broken, but in reality, they were cyber-terrorists who are committing the fire sale. Farrell says that he had no idea that he was going to be accessory into the terrorist attack. Then he recognizes the dispatcher's voice as the same woman he spoke too he passed algorithm to them. He was present McClane takes the radio and learns that the dispatcher is a fake. The mastermind speaks to McClane saying that he read a lot of his file and personal life and erased his 401k accounts. The mastermind tries to blackmail McClane into killing Farrell, but McClane refuses to do so, which relieves Farrell that McClane wouldn't murder him over blackmail. Then the helicopter came out of nowhere and Del killed Johnson, Laughlin and another agent. Farrell went on the front seat and went down as McClane took over the FBI police car and drives away from the helicopter. He sees McClane drives over the fire hydrant and the flow of water hits Del which causes him to fall out of the helicopter and hitting the ground below. Farrell warns McClane that the helicopter is back and spots a tunnel to their left as McClane turns to the onramp to avoid gunfire from Rand. As they drive into the large tunnel, Farrell and McClane sees cars occupying all four lanes in the opposite direction, blocking them in. Then another of cars block them in from the other directions and the tunnel lights were turned off. Farrell got out of the car, despite McClane's warning as the flow of cars were in. McClane rushed to save Farrell and pulls him away from one of the cars. Then he and McClane ducked from an flying car into two cars in between them. Then McClane escorted Farrell to the pillar nearby before an runaway tow truck can hit them. When the pile-up was over, McClane tells Farrell to stay as he goes and deals with the terrorist helicopter that's near the exit where they came in from. After McClane destroys the helicopter with the FBI police car, Farrell rushes over to him and tended to him since he is clearly hurt. Farrell states his impression to McClane he just killed a helicopter with a car. McClane asked Farrell if he was alright and he says that he's fine. Farrell helps McClane up as they leave the tunnel. Tracking the cyber-terrorists After they left the tunnel, Farrell noticed that McClane is in pain and suggests that he should go to a doctor. McClane says they don't need the doctor, they need the cops. As they arrived in the police in the effort to try to get help, Farrell is horrified by the grim reality of the fire sale. With no sign of getting help, they left the station. Then McClane tried to call Bowman, but Farrell says that phone could be cracked by the cyber-terrorists, which prompts McClane to break it and take someone else's phone. They went to the alley and Farrell stands by as McClane informs Bowman about their current situation. Then Farrell and McClane watched something on the news that has been hacked by the cyber-terrorists and send a taunting message to the world. Then the US Capitol exploded on screen, which shocks everyone who saw it. Then Farrell follows McClane as they ran to see the Capitol and both of them see that the footage was a fake. Then he and McClane returned to the alley. Farrell shows his regrets over his initial thoughts of the fire sale, but says that he wrote one piece of code and the world is tore apart. McClane says it's not about the system. It's about a country full of people terrified over the situation and convinces him to help him track the cyber-terrorists. Farrell says the Fire Sale is mostly done online, but major utilities are closed-circuit and they will have to go there physically to shut them down. He takes the PDA from McClane and relinks to the SATCOM's since he suspects that the terrorists are using them to communicate with each other. He reveals the electrical grid of America and shows McClane the Eastern Power Hub in Middleton, West Virginia. He says that if they take the power station down, it will wipe out all the power in the Eastern corridor, but they have to do it manually. When McClane decides to go there, Farrell tries to talk him out of it, but reluctantly follows him. They later decide to take a car to drive to West Virginia. When McClane was about to hotwire the car, Farrell warns not to do so and slams a trash bin to the front of the car to stop him, which lets out the airbags. Then the On-Star operator speaks at the intercom and Farrell poses a man whose father is dying. After awhile, he hysterically convinces the operator to start the car for them and it starts. McClane then drives himself and Farrell to the power station. As they cross the border of West Virginia, McClane says that he did good back there with the operator and such. Farrell admits that he is not heroic and brave like him. Farrell says that he saved his life around 10 times. McClane says he was just doing his job and says what being a hero does to you. McClane bitterly says he's been divorced from his wife Holly and his children, Lucy and Jack are not speaking to him. Farrell asked why he is doing what they are doing now and McClane says that there is no else to do it. Farrell figures out that what makes McClane that kind of guy as they headed for the power hub. Later that night, McClane and Farrell arrived in the power station. As McClane checked the area, Farrell followed. Once they reached the security control room, Farrell was shocked that the bodies of two security guards were found, confirming his suspicion. Farrell finds out that they will shut down power from the central control room on the fourth floor. As they were going up the stairs, Farrell was barely keeping up. Then he got back when McClane easily defeats and kills one of the terrorists in the stairway. As they reached the central control room, McClane takes a female cyber-terrorist name Mai Linh at gunpoint while Farrell tries to undo the damage to the central control room. But Mai proves to be a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and beats down McClane. But McClane then attacks Mai attack as Farrell watched in shock. Then he sees McClane knocking Mai out. Then Farrell continues to work to redo Mai's work. Then Mai regained consciousness and kicks McClane out of the window. Then Farrell tries to throw a right fist at her, but Mai easily grabs and twists his right arm. Mai tells to undo everything he just did. As he was undoing everything, McClane, who survived the fall, rams a SUV over Mai as she was about to kill Farrell. As McClane was climbing out of the dangling SUV in the elevator, one of the Mai's henchman fired at him. But Farrell approached from behind and hits the terrorist with the pipe, causing to fall into the shaft. He yells out to McClane to get out of the SUV before it can get loose. As McClane grabs the elevator cable, the SUV falls into the shaft below, killing Mai in the explosion. Meeting the Warlock As they made it back to the damaged central control room, Farrell says that he was forced to undo everything. McClane asked if he can lock out the hackers and Farrell says he might slow them down as he reactivated the power station's security. Then Farrell lets out the pop-up banners in an attempt to e-bomb their network. Then the mastermind called again. As McClane answered the call, Farrell rerouted the signal and got the picture of the mastermind on the video web-cam. Then Farrell got Bowman at McClane's request and sends the picture to the FBI, whom Bowman recognizes as Thomas Gabriel, a former Department of Defense programmer who was denounced for trying relentlessly to sound the alarm of the total cyber-terrorist attack. Then Farrell sees that the terrorists are sending the gas lines at the station in an attempt to kill them. After Farrell quickly got his gear, he and McClane rushed downstairs to a van and uses it as a bomb shelter from the ensuring explosion. After surviving the attack, Farrell was shaken since the tide has turned. McClane tells Farrell it has to do with his security code, but Farrell says that he doesn't even what they are using it for. Then they see the power going out in the East Coast. Then Farrell realizes that they have to see The Warlock in his home in Baltimore as he is the only hacker who can track Gabriel. McClane uses the FBI helicopter that Mai rode on. As McClane was getting the helicopter ready to take off, Farrell admits he doesn't like to fly and McClane says he used to be terrified of flying and tried to conquer his fears by taking flying lessons. Then the helicopter took off. As they gazed in disbelief over the blackout in Baltimore, Farrell tells McClane that The Warlock's house is probably the only building with the lights still on. Then they found the Warlock's house and McClane lands the chopper near the fence of it. As McClane and Farrell went to the house, Warlock's mother answers the door. As Farrell convinces Mrs. Kaludis to they are friend of her sons, she lets to the basement where Warlock set up his command post with an impressive amount of power generators. Farrell thought he lost so much weight, but Warlock claims he gain 30 pounds. When Warlock learns that McClane is a cop, he angrily asks Farrell why he brought a cop into his command center. Then McClane asked Warlock how to find Gabriel, Warlock remembered the name, but refuses to help out and orders Farrell and McClane out of his house. But McClane threatens him to reveal information. Warlock then tells them that Gabriel broke into the meeting of the Joint Chiefs and shuts down NORAD with a laptop to show them that America is vulnerable to a total cyber-terrorist attack until they put a gun to his head to stop the hack and publically humiliated as the result of it. Then Farrell tells Warlock that he passed a mutating algorithm and asked what he's using it for. Warlock tells him and McClane that the only active server being used with that code is used in Social Security Administration, but it's not used in the main server. It's actually used in some mysterious cooling towers in Woodlawn. As McClane asked what's the chilling tower, which Farrell silently tells the surprised Warlock that McClane is not exactly computer savvy. Farrell says to McClane that some servers generate a lot a heat and needs to cool down with cooling towers. Warlock then says whatever it's in that building, it's not Social Security numbers. When Gabriel detects Warlock hacking into Woodlawn, he sees on the webcam. McClane covers the camera with his hand and quietly tells Farrell and Warlock to track where Gabriel is. As Farrell assisted Warlock on tracing the communication feed, McClane distracts Gabriel. As Gabriel reveals to McClane that he's got his daughter Lucy McClane, Warlock and Farrell traced Gabriel to Woodlawn. As the outraged McClane goes to Warlock's mother's car to go after Gabriel and get Lucy, Farrell follows him, saying he can help him out. McClane tells him to stay at Warlock's house since it will be dangerous and thanks for his help. Farrell then gets in the car. McClane tells him to buckle up as they left Warlock's house to go to Woodlawn. Infiltrating Woodlawn As they were heading to Woodlawn, McClane asked if he can contact Bowman. He tries to contact Bowman through the SATCOM, but finds out that Gabriel must've shut down the satellite feed. He apologizes to McClane for what is happening to Lucy now and it wasn't his fight to begin with. McClane tells Farrell he has nothing to be sorry for. Later, Farrell and McClane arrived in Woodlawn. They see Gabriel's semi trailer there with Robinson guarding the entrance. McClane and Farrell went to the underground entrance and navigated the tunnels below. As McClane and Farrell reached the control penal to one of the cooling fans. Farrell trips the alarm, hoping it might alert Bowman and the FBI. As he was trying to get the blueprints of Woodlawn, they were caught from behind by Russo, one of Gabriel's men. Russo tells Farrell to get away from the bag. As McClane then fought with Russo, Farrell got away from Russo's gunfire, but fell off the shaft of the one of the cooling fans. He yells out to McClane's name above him, but when he couldn't get a response. Farrell then kicks the large vent open to go through it. As he made it through the vent, Farrell hears footsteps from Gabriel's henchman Emerson coming upstairs. As he see comes up the secured door, he looks at the control penal and recognizes as his own algorithm. As the hacker uses the code he remembers giving to Gabriel and his men, he gets the door open. Farrell goes inside the room, he exams the main server and sees that it contains back-up of all financial information of the U.S. He realizes that the terrorists are going after the money. Farrell begins to encrypt the laptop where the financial data is at so that Gabriel won't be able to siphon off the money. He manages to encrypt the data, but before he can encrypt it further, Emerson returns and holds him at gunpoint. Farrell warns Emerson warns if he kills him, they won't be able to open the data up. Emerson brings Farrell to Gabriel and after Emerson tells his boss that they have a problem, Farrell sarcastically says there is no problem and just got off the wrong floor. As he set down, the captive Farrell realized that Gabriel was merely using the Fire Sale as a distraction to the money on Woodlawn. Gabriel tells him to be quiet. Lucy whispers to him, asking who is he. Farrell introduces himself to her and Lucy introduces herself back as McClane. Farrell thought it was Gennero as he remember the name Gennero on the video chat earlier and Lucy replied, "Not today". When Gabriel's hacker Trey couldn't decrypt the lock on the data, Gabriel has his men take Farrell and Lucy down to their vehicles. As they were escorted down to the HAZMET truck by Emerson, Farrell tells Lucy not to antagonize and be confrontation with the terrorists. The resilient Lucy reminds him to show more resolve and bravery in her own meaning. Farrell remarks that Lucy's tone as her father and it weird is coming from someone with hair as Emerson puts him and Lucy in the HAZMET van. With that, they left Woodlawn with Robinson following them on the semi-truck. Redemption While en route in the van, Gabriel tells him to decrypt the data. Farrell refuses to do so, knowing they will kill him and Lucy if he decrypts the financial information. After being punched by Gabriel, Farrell remains defiant. As Gabriel cocks his Jericho 941 pistol and was about to shoot Farrell's knee, Emerson tells Gabriel that their semi-truck is coming to them really fast and realized McClane commandeered it. So Gabriel temporary aborts his plan to get Farrell to decrypt the laptop. At the warehouse that they used as they hideout, Gabriel tries to get Farrell to decrypt the data. Farrell again refuses to do so. Gabriel shot him in the knee to force him to unencrypt the data and threatened Lucy McClane. With no other choice, Farrell started to decode the data, but was interrupted by the arrival of McClane who killed Trey and one of Gabriel's men. After McClane was injured by Emerson, Farrell was forced to go back to work until McClane managed to kill Gabriel. When Emerson turns his gun on McClane, Farrell manages to recover McClane's gun and shoots Emerson dead. When the FBI arrive, Farrell is initially suspected as one of the terrorists, but Deputy Director Miguel Bowman clears him. Later, McClane thanks Farrell for saving Lucy and Farrell expresses interest in her, but McClane threatens to kill him if he goes after Lucy, who also shows interest in Farrell. Gallery Trivia *Farrell is the second character who saved McClane's life at the end of a movie by shooting the last remaining villian, the first being Al Powell. *According to Bruce Willis and director Len Wiseman on the film's DVD commentary track, the story originally involved McClane's reuniting with his son, Jack. Jack was supposed to be the computer hacker McClane has to deliver to the FBI. Eventually, that idea was dropped and the hacker became the character Matt Farrell. It was then decided to bring in his daughter Lucy to keep up the series theme of McClane always having a personal stake in what happens in the story. Category:Characters Category:Live Free or Die Hard characters Category:Allies Category:Americans Category:Males Category:Pawns Category:Pilots Category:Hackers Category:Civilians Category:Heroes Category:Main Allies